NEWARK –Devils coach Pete DeBoer took a family vacation to get away from hockey for a little bit after his team lost the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.

That’s right around the time that his captain Zach Parise became an unrestricted free agent and passed on a chance to return to the Devils to sign with the Minnesota Wild.

That’s also the time that Martin Brodeur, then also an UFA, was on the phone with Parise discussing their plans. Brodeur told NJ.com this week that he and Parise talked about returning and Parise getting good buddy/star defenseman Ryan Suter to sign with the Devils as well.

Brodeur ended up returning on a two-year, $9 million deal, while Parise and Suter signed twin 13-year, $98 million contracts with the Minnesota Wild four days into the free agent signing period.

The day before Parise returns to Prudential Center for the first time since leaving for Thursday night’s Devils-Wild game, DeBoer recalled his memories on how this all went down.

“During that free agency, I was at a cabin in Canada in the woods and really was not a part of that,” DeBoer said.

But he did get some inside information from Devils GM Lou Lamoriello, and his story differs from Brodeur’s regarding Suter, then a Nashville Predators UFA, being signed as well as Parise.

“I’m trying to remember that time,” DeBoer said after the Devils’ optional practice Wednesday. “In free agency there’s all kinds of different scenarios that get thrown around and I think if you let your imagination run wild, I’m sure you can get yourself a little excited.

“That was never brought to me at my level as a serious option. Whether (Suter) was being discussed at higher levels than me, I’m not saying it didn’t happen.”

While Lamoriello told NJ.com this ordeal is "part of the business," DeBoer says he’s turned the page on Parise, who is almost two full seasons into a new hockey life as a Wild.

He answered a lot of questions about Parise when the Devils played in Minnesota earlier this season. Now with the Devils in an uphill battle to make something of their season, he;s not thinking at all about Parise playing his first game at the Prudential Center for the Wild.

“I don’t know what my emotions will be,” DeBoer said. “Obviously, I’m a Zach Parise fan. He was a captain here. The game in Minnesota, we kind of moved past this ‘he’s playing against us now.’ So, I don’t think our team will be dealing with any of that. We’re past that. I think it’s kind of old news.”

Maybe so, but the Devils are close to missing the playoffs for the second year in a row since Parise left following the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.

When DeBoer coached the Florida Panthers to three consecutive non-playoff seasons from 2008-09 to 2010-11, he says he let late-season fire sales on his roster get to him.

He says that didn't happen again when the Devils lost Parise.

“I think I handled it differently,” DeBoer said. “I think I’ve come to realize that's the NHL. That’s the league you work in. You deal with that, either on the positive side of getting those guys or on the negative side of having them leave."

So five years earlier, he might have been in Lamoriello’s face?

“No,” DeBoer said. “When I said that about Florida, it was the frustration of wanting to win. We all want to move the organization forward. That frustration really I carried more into the dressing room with the players than anyone else, and it’s not their fault.”

Parise is gone, but he’s still a top player who is second on the Wild with 23 goals and 45 points this season. He's also still a gritty leader who last month captained Team USA in the Olympics.

DeBoer has noticed, but Brodeur says Parise leaving really set back the Devils.

DeBoer admits the Devils' have changed a lot since Parise left.

"Absolutely," he said. "Every time someone leaves it changes your team. It’s my job to take the new pieces and get them to fit the proper way.”